Do 'Biblical Errors' make the Bible Unreliable?The widely accepted and used modern translations of the Bible (i.e. KJV, NIV, NASB etc.) were not the original writings of the prophets through whom God recorded His Word. However these have been the materials that God has permitted to be universally used throughout the recent centuries to bring millions of people back to Him via His message of salvation through Christ for the atonement of our sins. I doubt that when these millions get to heaven they will be concerned that they may not have been taught from Moses or Isaiah’s direct writings on parchment. This point is simply to refute the notion that a) there is only one translation of the Bible that is authentic and b) that the Bible contains errors therefore rendering it largely uncredible.
The Holy Sprit (God in Spirit form) was sent to every believer after Pentecost (Acts 2) to reveal God’s truth. I believe that the contributors of the various modern Bible translations were largely operating under the errorless guidance of the Holy Spirit to contribute to these texts which subsequently have caused millions to come to an understanding and acceptance of salvation through Jesus Christ through the reading and life practice of His instructions from these translations.
Are there things in the Bible that at times may appear contradictory to our very limited human minds? Absolutely. But that in no way renders the Bible any less effective in it’s guidance for us back to Christ. All it underscores is the very likelihood that weak and sinful man in his very brief time on earth was not designed to understand all that there is to know about a perfect God. If we are to know everything, He will make it so in due time…I suspect though not here on earth.
Consider the following “contradiction”: In Leviticus Chapter 19 Verse 11 – God’s Bible says "Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another…”; but Exodus 1:15-21 tells a story of how the Hebrew midwives lied to their Egyptian masters and were rewarded by God for doing so. Does this apparent “contradiction” allow us now to lie ‘comfortably’ to each other? No, absolutely not…everything in context. The supreme command of the New Testament…second to the fact that salvation comes through Christ alone is this:
John 15:9-14 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.” (NIV)
We must try to lay our lives down for each other. For most modern Christians, this will not mean to take a bullet and literally die in place of another, but it most likely will mean that we ‘subvert’ (or lay down) our wants, desires, lusts, or love for things, and give our lives over to those whom God has given into our lives (typically our spouses and children). And it is right ONLY if we do it because it is done unto the Lord. Not out of drudgery or mechanical human duty. I suspect that those who obey this command with a right spirit will find that God will begin to change their circumstances. For most of us however, we never discover this because we are unwilling to trust and put into practice God’s word above our own flesh and desires.